Battery connecter



Patented July 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES tor..

ALFRED C. DE LORME, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

BATTERY comvncrrna.

Application filed October 14, 1927. Serial N0. 226,080.

This invention relates to a connecter, particularly adapted for use in making connection with the terminal post of a storage battery, such as those used .on automotive vehicles.

In the automotive industry, several million batteries-are used each year, and the cost of installing and making connections to these batteries therefore amounts to considerable of a monetary item. Particularly is this true in view of the fact that heavy cable is used for making connections with the battery. These cables are required to carry a relatively heavy current to the starting motor, which is used in cranking the engine, and in order to keep the voltage drop within limits the cable is of large'current carrying capacity, and it therefore becomes apparent that considerable care must be exercised in properly securing this heavy cable to the storage battery.

In the past it has been the practice to use connectors for joining these cables to the battery made from castings, usually castbrass or copper, then lead plated to protect them from the action of the acid, or acid fumes coming from the battery. Such castings have a more or less rough surface, and are apt to be porous, because the foundries are not always careful in their selection of materials used for making the connecters, and therefore. cast connecters offer greater surface for attack of the acid or acid fumes, of the battery.

85 Furthermore, cast connecters must be machined and usually tumbled before they ale lead plates, and due to the amount of work required on them, are relatively expensive. I

It is therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide a connecter which is easy and cheap to manufacture, and one which overcomes the objectionable features above referred to in connection with the cast connecters. To this end I construct my connecter of rolled sheet metal, such as brass or copper, which metal is free from blow holes, and such imperfections, and which is much lighter than castings, yet of cons1der ably greater conductivity per unit weight.

A connecter made from sheet metal by suitable punches and 'dies is much stronger and more easily and satisfactorily plated than the cast terminal, and from the con- 55 struction herein set forth, it will be seen that it possesses several advantages over the cast terminal, during the installation processes of connecting the cable thereto and attaching the connecter t0 the battery.

These advantages will be more readily appreciated after reading the specification taken in connection with the annexed-drawing, wherein Figure 1, illustrates the blank from which one form of my connecter is made; Figures 2 and 3 show the completed connecter; Figures 4 and 5 show a modification of the device. It will be readily apparent that such a blank reduces the scrap to a minimum, due to the fact that these blanks can be punched in reverse position .from a sheet of metal. After the blank has been punched, as shown in Figure 1, the arms 1 and 2 are formed, to the position shown in Figures 2, and 3, and likewise the tongue 3 is formed to the approximate size of the cable, which is to be soldered thereto.

Holes 13 and 4 are punched in the blankfor the reception of a bolt 5, which draws the arms 1 and 2 together to clamp arms 1 and 2 around the battery terminal post. The ends of thearms 1 and 2 are so formed at the point 14, that the head 15 of the bolt is prevented from turning when the nut 12 is tightened up. In attaching the cable to the tongue 3, the insulation is removed from the wire usually composed of a large num-' formed by the arms 1 and 2, may be of uniform diameter, or may be formed tapering, to fit a tapered binding post to the battery. In 'the form shown in Figures 4 and 5, the tongue 3 of the connecter has a hole 8 punched therein, leaving a gripper finger 7, which is adapted to be hammered or forced into a bundle of wires, constituting the cable, and due to this hole 8, the cable can be more securely soldered to the terminal 3. It may be noted that the tongue 7 may be used in the construction shown in Figures 2 and 3. In addition, the tongue 3 is slit during the punching operation in such a way as to provide an auxiliary clamp 9, of relatively narrow width and the clamp 9 is bent around the insulation 10 of the cable, to prevent it from fraying or unravelling at the point where it is stripped or skinned from the wire; also in the form shown in Figure 4, one of the arms 2 has its end 11 bent back on itself, so as to provide a sufficient metal for tapping, whereby the threaded end of the bolt 5 may engage the threads tapped in the ends 2 and 11 to draw the arms 1 and 2 together.

In addition, lock nut 12 may be used on the end of the bolt 5 as the nut 12 is used in Figure 2. Furthermore the end of the arm 1 may likewise be bent around in the same manner as arm 2, for the purpose of giving greater strength at this point.

The connecter described herein, being made of sheet metal is not easily susceptible particularly under the last mentioned, condition, the battery post is very liable to be pulled out in trying to get the terminal off.

The terminal herein disclosed can be pried apart without danger of breaking, and can thus be easily removed.

Having thus described my invention, what- Iclaim is:

1. A battery connecter made from; a

' T shaped punched blank having its stem formed to grip an electrical cable and its arms formed to engage a battery terminal post, and means for drawing said arms securely around said battery post.

2. A battery connecter made from a T shaped blank punched from sheet metal, the stem of the blank being bent back toward the cross arms of the T and adapted to receive and grip an electrical cable, the arms of the blank being formed around an axis substantially at right angles to the axis of the formed part of the stem and adapted to fit over abattery terminal post and means for drawing said arms securely around said battery 0st.

3. A attery connecter made from a T shaped punched blank having its stem split and both split parts bent backtoward the cross arms of the T to grip an electrical cable, one part around the insulation and names? the other around the conductors, said cross arms formed to engage a battery terminal post, and means for drawing said arms securely around said battery post.

4. A battery connecter made from a T shaped unched blank having its stem split and both split parts bent back toward the cross'arms of the T to grip an electrical cable, one part around the insulation and the other around the conductors, said latter part having an orifice punched therein to form a gripping finger adapted to be forced into the conductor said orifice serving also to assist in solderin the connecter to the cable, said cross arms ormed to engage a battery terminal post and means for drawing said arms securely around saidbattery post.

5. A battery connecter made from a T shaped punched blank having its stem formed to grip an electrical cable, said stem having an orifice punched therein to form a finger adapted to be forced into gripping relation with the conductors of the cable, said orifice also serving to assist in soldering the cable 'to the connecter, said blank having its arms formed to engage a battery terminal post and means for drawing said arms securely around said battery post.

6. A battery connecter made from a T shaped punched blank having its stem formed to grip an electrical cable and its arms formed to engage a batter terminal post, at least one of said arms ing bent back on itself to provide means for assisting in securing said arms to a battery post.

7 A battery connecter made from a T shaped punched blank having its stem split and both split parts bent back toward thecross arms of the T to grip an electrical cable, one part around the insulation and the other around the conductors, said latter part having an orifice punched therein to form a gripping finger ada ted to be forced into the conductor, said orifice serving also to assist in soldering the connecter to the cable, said cross arms formed to engage a battery terminal post, at least one of said arms being fromed back on itself to provide means for assisting in securing said arms to a battery 0st; p In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

ALFRED 0. DE LORME. 

